Beet-topper.



H. HARRISON.

BEET TOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1913.

1,095, 1 10. Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

70 fielziyjzarrzb'am ENTOR,

WITNESSES ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY HARRISON, OF RIFLE, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-FOURTH T0 THAD S. HARP, OF RIFLE, COLORADO, AND ONE-HALF T0 IRVING L. AVERY, OF LANDER,

WYOMING.

BEET-TOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

Original application filed May 29, 1912, Serial No. 700,509. Divided and this application filed September 23, 1913. Serial No. 791,361.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY HARRISON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rifle, in the county of Garfield and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Beet-Topper, of which the following 1s a specification,

This invention has reference to improvements in beet toppers, and is directed more particularly to a flattener for beet toppers, the object being to not only flatten out the leaves of the beet, but to split the top of the beet longitudinally, so that when the top of the beet is severed from the main body of the beet the top will fall on opposite sides of the beet.

The invention comprises a flattening shoe on which there is mounted a freely rotatable cutter so arranged as to slit the beet at the same time the leaves are flattened out and without the necessity of any other mechanism for the purpose.

The present application is a division of my Letters Patent No.- 1,076,363, granted Oct. 21, 1913, for improvements in beet topers.

p l he invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following de tailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, with the further understanding that while the drawings show a practical form of the invention the latter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed and modified, so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of the flattening mechanism showing adjacent parts of a beet topping machine in longitudinal section, while certain distant parts are omitted. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the structure of Fig. 1 and also showing the supporting wheels of the vehicle, but omitting some of the higher parts. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the flattener removed from the rest of the machine.

Since the present invention is limited to the flattener, only a portion of the topping mechanism is shown in order that the operation of the flattener may be made clear and the general structure of the machine will only be briefly described. The vehicle is mounted upon wheels 1 carried by an axle 2, which latter in turn supports a frame 3, the particular structure of which is not material to the present invention. This frame carries a shaft 4 provided with oppositely directed worm grooves 5 meshing with Worm wheels 6 0-11 upright shafts 7, each of which carries at its lower end a slicing disk 8, there being two such disks so disposed as to readily cut off the top of a slit beet in a manner fully described in the aforesaid ap plication, and which need not be herein described.

The frame 3 is mounted at one end on the axle 2 and at the other end is under the control of a link 9, so that mechanism carried by the frame may be elevated or lowered with respect to the ground. The framealso carries ground entering points 10 designed to loosen the ground on opposite sides of the beet, and these points are carried by a frame 11 having elastic mountings 12 on the frame 3. The bearings also show a sprocket pinion 13 mounted on the shaft 4; and driven by a sprocket chain 14: coming from a sprocket wheel 15 which is mounted on the axle 2, the purpose of this mechanism being to rotate the disks 8.

On a cross piece 16 of the frame 3 there is secured a depending bracket 17 to which is secured a stem 18 rising from a flattener shoe 19, the stem 18 being provided with a series of perforations 20 through which bolts 21 traversing the bracket 17 may pass, thus permitting a degree of up and down adjustment of the stem 18, and with it the flattener shoe 19. This shoe may be relatively narrow with respect to its length, and has an upturned front end or nose 22 and an upturned rear end or heel 23. The stem 18 and the shoe 19 on opposite sides of the stem are slotted, as shown at 24.- and 25, respectively, and lodged in these slots is a disk 26 having a sharpened edge 27. The disk is provided with an arbor 28 carried by journal bearings 29 fast to the stem 18 on opposite sides of the slot 24, the arrangement being such that a portion of the disk 26 projects through the lower face of the shoe 19 for an appropriate distance. The flattener shoe 19 is located between the points 10 at a suitable distance to the rear thereof, and in front of the cutting disks 8 and in substantial line with the meeting edges of these disks, while the slitting disk 26 may extend to an appropriate distance below the level of the meeting edges of the disks 8.

As the vehicle progresses the points 10 enter the ground on opposite sides of the beets, the latter being usually in rows, and the upturned nose end 22 of the fiattener, which nose end is pointed, engages the upstanding leaves of the beet and divides these leaves so that they move to opposite sides of the line of travel of the flattener and are then forced downwardly toward the ground as the flattener progresses. The parts are so adjusted that the flattener may engage the top of the beet, in which case the frame 3 will yield somewhat, but in any event the weight of the frame 3 and parts carried thereby causes the under surface of the flattener 19 to rest upon the beet in such a manner that that'portion of the slitting disk 26 extending below the fiattener will engage the top of the beet and cut a slit therethrough in the direction of travel of the machine to be followed by the cutters 8, which slices off the top of the slit beet and the two parts thus severed fall on opposite sides of the beet ready to be ultimately gathered.

What is claimed is y 1. In a beet topper, a flattener for engaging the beet tops during the travel of the machine, and a. cutter carried wholly by the flattener and projecting beyond the active surface of the latter toward the beet in position to sever'the beet top in the direction of the length of the body of the beet.

2. In a beet topper, a flattening shoe in position to engage the beet tops during the travel of the machine, and a freely rotatable cutting disk carried by the flattening shoe and projecting through the active face thereof.

3. In a beet topper, a beet top engaging shoe, and a cutter having its active portion projecting through the shoe to and beyond the ground side thereof.

at. In a beet topper, a laterally extended beet top engaging and flattening shoe and a cutter having its active portion on the ground side of the shoe, said cutter comprising a freely rotatable disk and the shoe being provided with a passage for the active portion of the disk.

5. A beet topper provided with a top flattening shoe carrying a cutter adapted to sever the beet tops in the direction of the lengths of the bodies of the beets, and a support for the shoe on which it is adjustable toward and from the ground.

6. A beet topper comprising a top flattening shoe with an intermediate stem rising therefrom, said stem and shoe having coinciding slots, and a freely rotatable cutter mounted on the stem and extending through the slot thereof and also extending through the slotin the shoe to and beyond the ground side of said slot.

7. A beet topper comprising a top flattening shoe with an intermediate stem rising therefrom, said stem and shoe having coinciding slots, and a freely rotatable cutter mounted on the stem and extending through the slot thereof and also extending through the slot in the shoe to and beyond the ground side of said shoe, the beet topper being also provided with a carrying means for the stem and said carrying means and stem having ooacting connecting parts arranged for the adjustment of the stem along the support toward and fro-1n the ground.

8. A beet topper provided with a top flattening shoe curved upwardly from an intermediate low point and provided adjacent to the low point with an uprising stem, the stem and shoe having coinciding slots, and a freely rotatable disk cutter mounted on the support and extending through the slot therein and also through the slot in the shoe to and beyond the ground face of the shoe.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY HARRISON.

ll itnesses JOHN E. SHERRARD, THOS. G. KENNEDY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

